The Renegade Death Knight

[Abomination]

Open to one or more.

"I'll find you, and you'll become part of me Xem'zund!"

Those were the last words Homun yelled out before being transformed into what he was now in the Red Forest. His dark eyes with the glaring yellow iris surrounding his dark pupil, his tall figure, his flowing golden hair that eclipsed one of his eyes, and the perpetual glazed look on his face. He never talked unless he was channeling an assimilation. The hunger of power never retreated from his desires, even as he was walking down this lonely road in Corone. Why Corone? It just happened to be where he ended up. Unable to retain memories for too long, his mystery was never-ending.

However, deep within him there was something always changing. Every assimilation added fuel to the fire of his mind, which now contained countless memories and abilities. It's possible that previous strain on his mind from all the memories caused it to collapse and transform him into this carnal, animal-like state. However, he was a creature of evolution.

His mind learned to adapt.

Like waking from a dream, he found himself on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. The leaves on the trees surrounding the road glistened from the sunlight. The radiant solar beams pierced through the gathering clouds. Suddenly, it all hit him at once. Where he was, what he was doing, and how long it's been since he last had a coherent thought. His glassy expression changed. He was finally aware of himself.

"What... have I been doing all this time?" he wondered in a low voice, his body shaking with his newly-discovered lucidity.

He had not reverted to the single-minded train of thought he had before that was obsessed with Xem'zund. The intelligence and experiences of those he had assimilated had changed his mannerisms to something more... defined. For the first time, he found himself thinking up a plan of action.

"I see," he smiled. "I must return to the wretched land of the undead... "

He was curious. The longest assimilation he ever held was Shin'dril, one of Xem'zund's Lieutenants, and so he was able to retain a good portion of not only his memories from the assimilation, but Shin'dril's own memories as well. Perhaps even...

A voice called out behind him, "Hey, move it! Get off the road!"

Homun looked back and saw a pair of horses tugging along a wagon filled with hay. An old farmer held the reins to the horses. Under his straw farm hat, the man had an annoyed expression on his face. He wanted to get back to the town before the coming storm.

"What's wrong, buddy? Lost? Well you're not far from Blakeley! Just keep going along the road and you'll be there in no time. So move it!"

What an irritable fellow. Homun was just minding his own business, after all. He turned around, his lifeless hair brushing his face and then settling back down. Lifting up his hand and pointed his palm at the old man, a dagger burst out of his skin and impaled the farmer right in the neck. The old man's eyes shook, his hands reaching pitifully for his neck, but his eyes rolled back into his head and he fell off the wagon. The horses shifted uncomfortably for a moment, but they could not see what was happening behind them. Homun walked over to the old man's body, still bleeding fresh blood.

"It's possible that I retained a bit more than Shin'dril than normal. Was he my first... true assimilation? I feel acutely bonded to his soul... and even still he seems to cry out in my flesh for revenge. However, his will is not stronger than mine."

He lifted his hand and slowly hovered it over the farmer's body. A familiar feeling cropped up inside of him, and the body started fidgeting. Was he still dying? No... this was...

The old man stood up, and his eyes were white as snow. No doubt about it, he was undead. He was now a ghoul, with his skin turning a greenish pale and his movements mechanical. Homun had inherited the power of unlife itself. This called for a greater test.

"I have no need for an old ghoul," Homun sneered, before extending a blade out of his arm and chopping the ghoul's head off. As it rolled a few feet and settled, it still seemed to possess some essence of undeath for a few moments longer.

Blakeley was close by, after all. Just how many zombies could he raise up in one go?

[Raelyse]

This place wasn’t right.

Everywhere Raelyse looked, his eyes drew in the rural Corone countryside. Vast farm land had greeted him before, now replaced by low-rise buildings surrounded by farmers and peasants milling around what counted as their marketplace. There was no sense of anything but blissful ignorance on every man, woman and child’s face. The Civil War in Corone and the turmoil on the rest of Althanas did not seemed to have reached this far into the countryside. The people of this town seemed to wear smiles as frequently as the warriors wore swords or the elves bore bows.

With ties in Alerar and Raiaera, Raelyse had been searching for an excuse to expand his influence into Corone. When he realized that he had recently amassed enough capital (or at least the ability to extract that capital) for that aim, the prince decided to find and acquire land to construct a structure ornate and extravagant enough to call his home. However it appeared that in his zealous search for land, he had ventured too far into Corone’s countryside.

Blakeley’s surroundings were beautiful enough. There was a quaint, untouched beauty appeal across every acre of land. In his search for a suitable plot of land, Raelyse had wanted to strike the balance between finding one big enough to support something large enough to satisfy his ego, while also not crossing into country bumpkin territory. As he surveyed the people before him, he realized that he had come too far into the latter.

They eyed him with an uneasiness dressed in their eternal optimism. He did not belong here. His lavish clothing alone seemed as if it cost more money than any of these people had seen in their lives. The swords sheathed at his waist spoke more than any words could say. The people of this village had no visible weapons and did not even seem to stand fully straight. There was an easiness, a blissful way of life that Raelyse had seen before. And he hated it.

These people existed in a bubble away from the rest of the world. They moved around their daily lives, doing their daily routines, living the same life their parents did until they die, only for their children to do exactly the same thing. The people of Blakely were not people. They were ants.

Raelyse took another step into the village, too wary that the day was long and he would not make it to the next town before sunset. He weighed the thought of living with these insects for a few hours against wandering the Corone wilderness into the night. Neither option seemed very appealing. He turned his head slightly, eyeing the vast expanse of land where Blakely ended that seemed to stretch without end. If only it were closer to Radasanth, then it would be perfect.

A horse driven carriage loaded with hay was moving towards the town, the lone blemish on the beautiful countryside. Raelyse turned his head forward, his eyes scanning the village of Blakely.

The second blemish on the countryside.

[Abomination]

Across town, a wagon was being driven towards another entrance. Holding the reigns of the two horses pulling it was an old man wearing dusty overalls and a straw hat kept low to obscure most of his face. Blakeley looked like it had been cobbled together with sticks and stones. A beaten path connected the houses, and in the other end of town was a small marketplace. Mostly one-story buildings, some of the more wooden houses contained attics. A young man stood in front of one of such houses, tapping his foot impatiently. Wearing cut-off pants, sandals, and an unbuttoned shirt, he noticed the wagon and displayed relief.

Running over to the wagon, he berated the driver, "What took you so long, gramps? You had us all worried sick! It's almost sundown!"

A dark eye peered from under the straw hat. With a grim expression on the old man's face, he jumped down from his seat and landed sharply on the ground.

"Whoa gramps, don't hurt yourself!" the youth cautioned.

In the sky, the clouds were getting darker and denser, a slow rumbling permeating across their fluffy masses.

"This... old man has something to tell you..." said the elderly farmer, slowly lifting up his head to his grandson.

The youth was startled, "Wha-what's with you, grandpa? You, you're acting funny!"

He fidgeted and took a step back, sensing something foreign. He had an acute feeling that the old man in front of him wasn't his grandfather, but this feeling battled his reason.

"Young kids..." Homun smiled. "They never listen to their elders!"

Crunch! The old man's hand passed through the boy, exiting out his back in a bloody burst. He felt the destruction of the boy's ribs, the popping of his organs, and the tearing of his flesh. It was a feeling he relished for reasons he did not understand. The youth turned pale, his eyes slowly rolling back into his head. The Homunculus lifted the boy into the air with just arm strength, stretching his arm several feet upwards.

A woman who was passing by screamed, garnering the attention of several others. Homun morphed back into his usual self, and the last thing the youth saw looking down was the maniacal grin and the crazed eyes of the Homunculus. With his hand retracted, the boy fell to the ground like a rag doll, free to bleed all over the ground. Homun noted that physical contact with someone was enough to copy their appearance for a short time, no assimilation necessary.

A man came busting out of the nearest house with rage-filled eyes and a knife, yelling, "What have you done to my son?! Monster!"

Many other villagers echoed the claim of Monster, starting an epidemic of panic. Their screams were music to his ears. The man's expression pleased Homun. That was the expression of rage and despair! The sadness and desperation of revenge! Causing great grief sparked sadistic joy within him.

"You fiend! Die!" screamed the man, his blood boiling and his eyes red and shaking.

He plunged his knife into Homun's chest and breathed out, thinking he had done the beast in. Yet, he heard the monster's chuckle. He looked up, and several blades burst from Homun's body, filling the man with holes. The blades retracted and he fell to his knees. Homun left his left arm and chop! the man's head was sent tumbling, blood spurting out of his neck. Homun's left arm was extended, a blade sticking out of the side of it and blood dripping off of it. Homun pulled the knife out of his body, lifting it above his mouth and slowly lowering it in, swallowing once it was all the way in.

Feeling that it's been long enough, he decided to get started. Several arms started sprouting out of his back, ripping through his clothes and flying in all directions. A woman, presumably the boy's mother and the man's wife, quickly shut the door on the approaching arm, but it just ripped right through the wooden door and took her life as well. Another arm careened down the street toward another fleeing villager, impaling him. There was a reason he preferred to use his own body as a weapon instead of the various arms inside of him, and this was it. For each victim, he felt acutely their spines snapping, their bones cracking, their lives stopping. The last moment's of their lives, to match his own heartbeat to theirs, was the greatest source of ecstasy to him. At this rate, the whole town would be purged in short order.

[Raelyse]

Every step Raelyse took further into the town felt like a violation to the soles of his shoes. The dirt that gathered up with every trod of his feet sullied his otherwise perfect boots. The looks that the peasants gave him as they eyed his opulent clothing from their comparative poverty made him feel superior but also uneasy. His kind did not come here.

But he had scarce little choice. Without guide or a suitable means of transportation to the nearest town, Raelyse could not be bothered to make it to the next town, especially with dusk approaching. And though he did have the magical talents necessary to transport himself to a more suitable town, his illusions of success had left him weary. Leaving as soon as he was rested had now become his best decision.

Surely there was at least one bed in this town that would count for some manner of lavishness.

“Is this truly the most luxurious place in this entire town?” Raelyse asked incredously. The prince had found his way into Blakeley’s lone hotel, a three story building with all signs but cobwebs demonstrating that this place was hardly a frequent place for visitors. “Surely... there must be at least...”

“Nah, we the best, Sir,” the attendant replied. There was uneasiness about him, though like the rest of the town, he covered it in good manners and cheerfulness.

“Not only that,” Raelyse replied, resigned to the fact that he would have to spend hours, not minutes in this town. “You’re the best for miles and miles.”

After adding that snide remark, the prince grabbed his key and paid for his room, making his way up the stairs. With every step that he climbed, he swore silently to himself, cursing his decision to come to this part of the world.

And that was the last thing that Raelyse remembered before pandemonium unfurled. He barely had enough time to register reaching the top of the flight of stairs before the evening silence was shattered by a chorus of terror filled screams. That was all the prince could hear for a few seconds, until the sounds of death rang in his ears. Raelyse heard flesh being pierced and bodies being thrown around with massive force.

Without a second thought, the prince sprinted across the foyer landing, kicking open the nearest door. Even the sound of the seven foot piece of wood falling off its hinges and crashing to the floor could not mask the carnage that was unfurling outside. The main window in the vacant room overlooked what amounted to the main city square so Raelyse slowly made his way towards it. Keeping his back against the wall for fear of perceived archers spotting him, he pulled back the curtain and peered through the window.

It wasn’t a white knight complex that motivated the prince to look. The first scream did not tell him that these people were in trouble, it told him that something was about to happen to them for the first time in their life. He had thought that a bandit gang was raiding this village or perhaps another skirmish between rivalling Coronian factions had stretched here.

But this was much better. It was with a sadistic form of glee that the prince watched on as tendril after tendril shot forward from the monster’s body, killing the peasants without remorse or difficulty. This was a creature without conscience or penance.

“Finally,” Raelyse remarked to himself. “Something to make the time pass faster...”

He wouldn’t be bored this night.

[Abomination]

Panic. The senseless fear and loss of control. Before his recent self-awareness, he was not unlike these people. Living day by day, wandering through life on his latest whim. Now, he had found meaning. He had a purpose! What could he say about the lives he were taking? If they had no meaning, did they even have value? Perhaps he could give them purpose in their new forms. However, he needed more fresh meat. If he stood around too long, most of his prey will get away. Doors shut, windows closed, and previously idle vehicles were now in motion.

The sky crackled with thunder, sunlight but a fleeting memory in the wind behind the darkening masses. Like a one-man wrecking ball, he burst into a sprint and had spawned several of his arms to break through windows, doors, puncture walls and destroy anything in his way to his targets. He could feel their breaths on his sharp, carnivorous teeth. The quick, fleeting breathing of souls waiting to be released from their bodily prison. At the marketplace, the loudness of the area was enough to muffle most of the screams from across town, but now a frenzied woman ran into the area, warning all of the others to run away. They looked perplexed for a moment, but then a bloody hand burst out of her chest. Her body was lifted up and tossed aside to free the hand. Produce was spilled, people were falling over themselves trying to get away, and all merchandise was abandoned. Homun turned the corner and decided to seize the opportunity.

Extending his two original arms forward, he angled them so that each pressed against either side of the street, tearing down tarps, displacing items, breaking through various structures. The arms met each other at the end of the street to trap the people in an ovular shape between his arms. Hundreds of daggers appeared at random from his arms, popping out ever so slightly. Then, his arms started spinning rapidly, and he converged them into the center of the street. He called it The Shredder. Pulling his arms back and retracting all of the blades, he found himself completely drenched in blood as if he had been swimming in it. The feeling of all those people's lives being ended all at once almost sent him into a stupor. It was exhilarating.

Cloth flew in the wind, pots rolled across the street, and fresh dust flew throughout the town. Finally, after all that watching he did of the battle at Eluriand, he got to personally slaughter these people. Looking around sharply left and right, the Homunculus scourged the area for survivors. They were likely some hiding in basements and closets as well. His eyes were particularly drawn to one of the larger buildings in town. Rather than running, someone had elected to watch him. In addition, he felt a slow breath like this, one of anticipation rather than fear. Bending his right arm back and making a fist, he threw like a punch it towards the building with a rocket-like force, tripling the size of the fist at the end of the arm and stretching the length of his arm as it flew like a projectile.

[Raelyse]

There seemed to be no limit to this massacre. Just when it seemed that the blood curdling screams had reached their crescendo, the butchery elevated and seemingly more lambs were led to the slaughter. There were not that many people in Blakeley but the chorus of death as each and every one of them were snuffed from existence created more significance for the little town than they could have otherwise hoped for.

Raelyse did not feel sorry for these people. However, he did not enjoy seeing them being impaled or being torn to shreds either. He was ambivalent, he did not care for the woes of these people anymore than he would have cared about their happiness. The prince simply saw them the way that he saw most of Althanas, as insignificance which would inevitably be caught in the path of significance.

His continuing thoughts were disturbed by the sound of desperate and fearful footsteps ringing in his ears. Raelyse turned his head in the direction of the sound, noticing the attendant from the desk before, drenched in sweat as he climbed the last of the stairs. The prince was anything but ashamed to admit that as the man closed the distance between them, Raelyse wore a confident smirk across his face.

Not that the man, in his near fear-paralyzed state, noticed.

“Sir swordsman!” the attendant screamed, his tone unrecognizable from the sugar-coated friendliness he had shown before. “The monster... there is a monster... surely, you must...”

Raelyse looked down on the man, who was only a few minutes from begging hands and knees for the rescue of his village. “An ant pleading for his nest. How cute,” the prince stated, condescension dripping from every syllable. “I am not a hero. These blades are not tools for the preservation of the innocent and the meek, they are weapons in the hands of the strong.”

The attendant swallowed hard, like he was in a nightmare with two antagonists tormenting him. “But...” was all that he could murmur, a timid remark at best, one that showed just how powerless he felt.

“Your village was caught in the middle of a relative tornado,” the prince remarked as he moved away from the window to approach the man. His formidable frame towered the cowering individual, who could barely move out of a mix of resignation, confusion and horror. “And even though it represents nothing more than a light breeze in a meadow to me, I have no desire to let insects halt the roar of the wind.”

Raelyse raised his right arm, pointing his clenched right fist at the man standing before him. “Although,” he began. “Since you asked so nicely, I will spare you the indignity of being converted into carrion.”

But before the prince could derive his sadistic pleasure from his definition of euthanization, he was interrupted. A huge crash sounded across the entire room as an enormous projectile smashed into the window behind Raelyse, sending shards of glass flying across the room. Some flew in his direction but connected harmlessly against his magical clothing. With the strength of dehlar, his skin was more than adequately protected against missiles constructed out of mere glass.

The prince took a few steps forward, surveying the scenes below. The humanoid creature was now eying him, a definite sign that his projectile was aimed, not yet another sign of his rampage. Raelyse placed one of his feet on the edge of the window, pushing his body up so he now stood on the window sill. Without a second thought, he jumped off the edge, landing gracefully on the ground without a hint of pain.

Raelyse rose his head, eyes locked on the murderer before him, that confident smirk still etched across his chiselled features.

“I hope you mistook me for someone else, cretin,” he said, his voice loud and clear above the echo of death. “Because otherwise, what you’ve done to these insignificant roaches will seem like a tickling next to what I’m going to do to you.”

[Abomination]

The monster's arm shrunk and retracted back to its normal size, covered in cuts and bruises. Shards of glass were slowly pushed out of his skin on their own and falling onto the street. The holes all over his back were patched up by regenerating clothing, and the blood covering his body was slowly being absorbed. It is not that the scraping and tearing of skin, the bruising of his extra appendages were inconsequential, but he was numb to the pain and his rapid regeneration took care of such trivialities. The words of Raelyse passed through one ear and out the other, for there was something much more interesting on Homun's mind.

A harsh wind blew through the town, and up above the sky crackled with thunder. Light was now dim in this cursed village, except for the Homunculus. In his vision, he saw a great white light in front of him. An outline around this stranger that was blindingly bright. He remembered being sidetracked by this feeling, this hunger. It was a chance for power, an opportunity to evolve. This was not a man without value. He was not a being without purpose. The white outline around him was the ultimate proof of that. His presence amongst all these lesser creatures was a mystery. However, this was opportunity!

Homun pressed his left finger against his forehead, grinning at his new guest, "You have it all wrong, friend. I merely thought your view was... inadequate. The show's about to start."

The sky flashed one more time, and the rain descended from the sky. A lightning bolt hit a weather vane on top of one of the houses, sending it spinning at breakneck speeds. Homun raised his arms and concentrated. It felt like he could see the entire town with all the bodies spread throughout it, with a greater vision in the concentration of the marketplace next to him. The bodies started to stir, and one by one they pulled themselves up. Men, women, and children alike. The corpses were so fresh, the only way you could tell they were undead was to look into their eyes and see their blank expressions. The zombies started shambling over to Homun slowly, their wills entirely owned by him. The undead, as Homun saw, were on their own rather weak and frail, but in the hands of a good necromancer they could be turned into something fierce and fast. Letting his arms fall limp at his sides, he could feel the mental strings that connected him to them, the feeling of a grand consciousness.

The last time he felt this overbearing awareness was when he was assimilating Shin'dril, one of Xem'zund's many necromancers that assaulted Eluriand. Donned in his cloak and controlling a vast army of various undead, he helped tear down the walls of the mighty elven city. It felt like he had extra body parts that were not attached to him. However, these creatures of flesh and bone were capable of something more. Their power was tested at Eluriand. Their strength had driven back the elves from their own lands. He looked back at Raelyse.

"Now it is time for some audience participation," Homun hissed. "I want to see the potential of creatures that subjugated an entire race!"

The ghouls that seemed slow and sluggish suddenly sprinted at high speeds, their low-pitch groans and mumbles becoming high-pitched wails and shrieks of terror. The appearance of sloth faded from them, replaced by an animalistic movement that sought to maim anything in their way. Doors of many houses burst open and ghouls poured forth from them, all on a crash course with Raeylse. With claws, teeth, and blunt objects, their intent was to bludgeon their target. Waves of zombies turned the corner and almost flew at Raelyse. It was no surprise that there were so many. After all... Homun had only come to the marketplace after every other human in the town was dead.

[Raelyse]

When he had talked to the creature before him, it was more to satisfy Raelyse’s own urges for dramatisation to satisfy his ego. He had not expected a response, particularly one with such eloquent diction and personality. This was no mindless monster. The prince had assumed it was some form of golem, but knew now that it possessed a mind of its own. Its manipulation of the weather showed off that it had the magical abilities to complement its physical ability to transform into a slaughterhouse. Raelyse wasn’t necessarily in awe though, he was more curious. He wanted to know where this creature came from and why it was here.

He did not have much time to think however, as the next words that the monster spoke was the cue for something horrible. Raelyse had scant time to so much as form a reaction, such was his surprise at what was unfolding before him. He felt the ground tremor slightly before him at the abomination to nature that was occurring, he felt his gut turn over in anticipation that something dreadful was about to happen. The prince did not know what was to happen, only that it was bad. He had heard something terrible in the monster’s voice, enough to tell him that this creature was sentient.

And its intentions, whatever they might be, were sinister. The first signs were the sounds of the village people. Only this time they were not words, they were merely grunts or groans, sounds that barely flexed the ability to make any noise at all. Then, he saw the first of them. An old man was limping slowly forwards from around one of the houses. His leg was broken and a normal person would not be able to move in that amount of pain, but yet he lurched forward. His single-mindedness was personified in his eyes, emotionless, irises so dilated they were barely visible in the sea of white. He was a reanimated undead, for no emotion, not a single ounce of humanity was left in his face.

Then he saw the rest of them. Not all had been physically hampered as their lives had been taken. Some carried chest wounds, others had simply had their throats slit, whatever the monster had done, he had killed all of them, only to reanimate their corpses.

The first of them sprung forward quickly, apparently without any form of damage to his legs. Raelyse took no time and did not even think to justify his actions as he saw the body, lifeless a moment ago, approach him. His right arm fell instinctively to the handle of the long sword which lay sheathed and strapped to his body. In one smooth motion, he drew the weapon and swung it across in an arc in the area in front of him, cutting down the advancing zombie at its waist. The undead’s body was no match for the fine blade allied to the hands of the skilled swordsman.

Raelyse barely had enough time to savour his minor victory as four more of the vile creatures came towards him. He swung his weapon in their direction, his body twirling as he did so to avoid their slow attacks. Limbs flew off where his sword connected, but this did not hinder them at all. Even worse, more of the zombies were speeding towards him. Even with all of his skills, there was only so much one man could do against a legion of foes.

But the prince of Myrusia was no mere man. Just as one zombie swung his makeshift wooden weapon towards him, Raelyse jumped backwards, avoiding the unskilled attack. More bloodied arms swung in his direction, but none connected. The zombies looked around in confusion, their mark seemingly disappeared. It took the undead creatures a moment to realise that he was levitating away, his body flying up and into the air.

Raelyse had used his magical ability to fly to lift his body off the ground and land firmly on the roof of the nearest building, the hotel. Flying four stories into the air in retreat surely would have been enough to escape against a swarm of unarmed peasants. But the monsters that pursued him no longer had the will to give up. They now moved for only one purpose: the will of another.

Without hesitation, the zombies advanced upon the building and began to climb it.

[Abomination]

Homun's eyes followed the swordsman as he lifted off from the ground, as if he was simply allowing the forces of this world to hold him down until now. What a useful... ability. Such a display only fed Homun's anticipation and hunger. A few of his zombies' limbs were at his feet. A torso was crawling to the door of the house Raelyse landed on, leaving a trail of blood. Another was hopping on its remaining leg. Some of them lacked arms now, and were intending to gnaw him to death. The rain mixed with the blood created puddles of crimson. This wasn't quite how the Homunculus remembered the armies of Xem'zund. At the battle of Eluriand, the zombies could stand toe-to-toe with the elven elite. The only ones who managed to dispatch them with the same ease as this stranger were The Bladesingers. It seemed apparent that Homun had some more practicing to do before he could make soldiers out of corpses.

However, was it enough to fool the other Death Lords? In the end, his aim was to infiltrate Xem'zund's ranks and find his precise location. He didn't bother thinking about the killing potential he would have with the great necromancer's powers, as it would likely blanket his mind with sadistic thoughts. More importantly, this stranger had just the ticket he needed to get back to Raiaera quickly, in addition to whatever other powers he could gain from assimilation. Before all that, he had to cage this bird. He had to get him back on the ground.

Homun called out, "What's wrong?" He shrugged, "Don't like the target practice?"

Moving aside his hair, which had started to stick to his head due to the mixture of blood and rain, he got a good look at Raelyse through the storm. It felt like the water was... avoiding him. As if the sky itself had preference for the swordsman. It would've been helpful if the zombies had at least nicked him, got a piece of hair or cloth, anything for use in assimilation. However, if he had to bring the fight to the swordsman, so be it. After all, he only needed one touch.

Crossing his arms across the chest, he made a gruesome expression of teeth-gnashing pain and spawned 6 arms from his back. Two came from his shoulder blades, two came from the lower part of his ribcage, and two came from just above his hips. They extended several meters, flowing in the rain like snakes. He might as well have had a spider on his back. They extended further and reached over to the marketplace, scouring for weapons. Crashing through vegetables, pots, and pans, they found a a knife for each hand and retracted back to Homun. As this happened, the zombies continued their ascent to their target. Some scaled the side of the building with some success, others tried entering the gaping hole in the side of the building created by Homun's earlier attack, searching the house itself and finding a way through the ceiling. They looked like cockroaches crawling all over each other to get to a piece of sugar.

Lifting his right leg, he slammed it into the ground, which was a signal to all of the arms to strike at their target. The arms extended one after another, aiming to carve some pieces off of Raelyse. Homun looked up with a face of concentration, while still leaving his mouth slightly agape to lick his lips. He only needed Raelyse, for whatever reason, to land on the ground again. The action with the right leg was simply a way to disguise his true attack. Burrowing through the bottom of his boots, an arm had grown out of his foot and was deep underground, ready to sprout up and make whatever contact it could with the swordsman's leg. Of course, if he could catch his prey's leg entirely he would take some pot shots at him, but a mere scratch would be enough for him.

[Raelyse]

Many things were happening at once. Nearly a hundred undead were scaling the building he was standing on and on the ground, their master, a creature or unknown but surely deadly abilities, was poised to make a move. And yet, Raelyse remained calm and detached from the apparent dilemma at hand. The scuttling of the zombies as they slowly ascended the building coupled with their inhuman screams and groans would have been enough to unsettle even the steeliest warrior. But the prince of Myrusia did not lose his composure. That characteristic smirk still remained etched across his face, its design so unchanged it was an overconfident tattoo of tranquillity amidst all this chaos.

What was there to fear? He was Raelyse. This creature and his pitiful army of reanimated farmers and merchants stood no chance.

By the time the first of the zombie’s arms had reached the roof and began to pull itself out, Raelyse had already formulated a strategy. He was not going to run once more against this creature. The rain that fell from the skies above was little distraction to the undead, unencumbered by typical human pitfalls like discomfort. But to the prince of Myrusia, the rain all around him was a weapon. It took him a moment to focus, and another moment to concentrate and spread his magical abilities all over the entire town. And then the deed was done.

It almost seemed as if the world was on pause. Every bead of rain within a hundred feet of Raelyse suddenly stopped in the air, frozen in place. And in truth, that was what had happened to them. Every individual drop of rain had suddenly frozen into a tiny icicle. The little sculptures of ice then moved in unison, tilting at a slight angle before growing at both ends. But they didn’t simply grow bigger, each and every one of the icicles grew a keenly sharp point at either end of themselves. In moments, Raelyse had transformed a drizzle into an armoury of thousands of half inch long icicle spears.

With a flick of his wrists, the frozen rain above the zombies climbing the hotel descended. It truly appeared as if the prince had started again the time he had stopped, only this time, the rain did slow the zombies. Each and every one of them climbing the building fell to the ground, dead, a thousand miniscule puncture holes in each of them.

But Raelyse could still hear the evil beings scurrying and screaming as they climbed from within and outside. There were still many more to be fallen. The prince did not hesitate though, he had the weapons to crush these creatures.

But something else stole his attention. He saw the master of the zombies below, additional arms seemingly sprouted out of his back and each of them holding a sharp knife. Before he had a chance to unleash his weapons on the monster below, each and every one of the auxiliary arms shot forward at incredible speed.

His first instinct was to draw his long sword, but his experience quickly told him that his larger weapon would be scant defense against the speed and sheer quantity of attacks from this creature’s flurry. As the arms flew up against him, he cursed silently to himself. Retreat seemed like the cowardly thing to do at this point even though he knew that it was the only true way to defeat this creature without soiling his perfect clothing.

Raelyse turned around and ran, jumping off the other side of the building. He let his body fall a few feet before he used his magic to push himself up again, flying up and into the air. The additional arms of the creature stretched out after him, but the speed at which he flew up meant that he could not be caught. He levitated there, more than fifteen feet above the roof of the hotel.

The prince watched the last of the zombies clamber up to the roof, only to realise that their quarry had escaped them yet again. Raelyse looked down at the creature on the ground below, its gaze similarly focused on him. He contemplated flying off and into the distance at this point; this was perhaps enough excitement for one day.

But then he remembered that he had gone to the effort of making thousands of weapons and if he left now, they would not get the chance to be used.

It was Raelyse’s turn to go on the offensive now.

[Abomination]

The Homunculus blinked, almost missing the moment when the storm seemed to stop. When it started up again, countless shards of light were glistening in the air. The next thing he knew, his creations were falling to the ground in meaty piles, the essence of undeath holding them together seeping out like a thin smoke from their bodies. Not only was this stranger a swordsman, but also a wizard! It was like he was straight out of Raiaera! He felt a familiar twinge while observing his actions. Of course, there was only one sure way to know who or what he was: Assimilation.

Homun's arms grasped, but they stopped when their target seemed permanently out of reach. He pulled them back so there were once again a couple meters from his body, swaying in the storm and gripping the knives tightly. Raelyse had almost jumped down, but once again lifted himself up and fluttered in the wind. His figure was grainy in the endless torrent of rain. Homun knew... this man was out of his league. However, he was exactly the reason why Homun needed to be stronger. What if he had decided to stop the Homunculus from his little experiment? To know that people like this were out there and threatened his existence just inflamed his desire for power.

It was difficult to see, but it appeared that his opponent could fly away at any moment. Such a wasted opportunity that would be! Homun had to act now. He was clearly no match for this kind of magic, but he had one strategy that was uniquely his. That's right, his power of self-regeneration. He was, perhaps, a creature designed for ruthless experimentation. Gathering information from every powerful mind was also a way to determine his origins. He would make an attack that would be considered fatal.

Detaching the underground arm for a future attack, he broke into a sprint. He scaled the hotel, digging his claw-like nails into the walls and climbing to the roof in seconds. Pushing aside his zombies, he knocked several of them off the roof. They were just standing there, staring at Raelyse, unable to pursue him. Such creatures were no longer needed in this fight. Due to how malleable his body was, he coiled his legs into large springs of flesh and bent his knees, positioning himself on a crash course with the stranger. He didn't know the limits of the swordsman's speed of flight, but his movement so far wasn't instantaneous. If he went fast enough, he could catch him. Concentrating, he felt his body change. His organs seemed thin, his bones light and hollow, and his skin tightening. He was reducing his body weight, creating a situation of optimum speed and acceleration. His arms dropped the weapons they were holding. When that was done, he put his left hand on the sheath of his short sword, and his right hand on the hilt.

With a thrust, he released himself, his coiled legs immediately decompressing and shrinking down to normal size as he flew. The force of the liftoff displaced most of the zombies off the force and creating a visible expanding sphere of water that flew in all directions. Homun flew, the very rain cutting through his clothes and flesh due to the speed. No, these were the glistening shards of ice that were suspended in the air. Homun knew what was coming, and he was prepared.

[Raelyse]

There were few things that Raelyse enjoyed more than using his magick. His vanity and formidable abilities ensured that every occasion he channelled the Eternal Tap was a display of beauty as much as power. The prince was often so cocksure in his strength that he would often sit back and admire his attack take form and strike. As soon as he had realised that his magick was limited only by his imagination, Raelyse began to see it as another offshoot of his persona. Like everything else, it needed to be perfect, in his eyes, in every aspect.

His icicle rain was flawless in that respect. The individual shards of ice were no bigger than pins, but they pierced through the flesh of the zombies by the thousands. It was a stunning sight. The zombies still looked like ordinary humans and the frozen icicles raining form the sky still looked like ordinary rain. But neither were what they seemed.

The only thing that soiled the perfection of the attack was that the master of the zombies was still standing. His eyes shifted from the beauty of his attack to the place where he had last seen his target. It almost did not register in his mind when the creature was not standing there. It took Raelyse a moment of searching before he could find the monster.

The prince was slightly impressed by what he saw. The sight of the creature sprinting and scaling the hotel was one that impressed him. It was quick and the way that its body contorted to suit its movement was impressive. Not only could this creature manipulate its body for offensive purposes, but it could also twist it into seemingly whatever shape it wanted for whatever purpose. This was no simple being, it was sophisticated. The way that it moved was almost primal in its single-mindedness. It knew what it wanted. It wanted Raelyse.

While this display of physical prowess allied to sheer desire was enough to shock the prince, it was a far way away from scaring him. Raelyse eyed the creature as it reached the top of the hotel, knocking away any of his remaining minions that still stood in his way. He watched as his legs coiled up as an improvised launching mechanism and he watched as the creature unleashed that potential energy and flew towards him. All the while, the prince looked on with confidence. Confidence in himself and his abilities, that he would not need to exert himself to defeat this creature.

As soon as the monster leaped off the roof, Raelyse attacked. With a flick of his wrist, he sent all of his icicles flying into his target. They moved at an unavoidable speed in a seemingly unlimited amount. Not one of them missed, every single one of the mini spears hit their mark. Some embedded themselves in the creature’s flesh, some pierced right through its body.

But this time, the attack was not enough. Raelyse’s eyes fell to the ground expectantly, anticipating seeing the lifeless body of the creature crushed below.

Then, something grabbed his shoulder hard. His head pivoted, only to see that the monster he had expected to see dead had closed the distance between them. Far from killing the creature, Raelyse’s attack had not even slowed it down. The loss of balance and concentration ended his levitation magick and he instantly fell to the ground, the creature’s powerful hand still latched onto him.

[Abomination]

As he closed in on his target, Homun knew full well what was coming and braced himself.

During the times of the Eternal Tap, there were many experiments to try to test the limits of that endless power. The living beings of the world could not endure too much of it, so they created artificial humanoids; The Homunculi were born.

The ice crystals pierced his flesh, punctured through his body and exited out the other side. His acceleration was pushed to a dead stop, his body suspended in mid-air shaking violently from the converging shards. His blood spilled in every direction, his eyes a stark white and his mouth agape from the shock.

Created by the brightest minds and the most ancient of magicks, The Homunculi were the most malleable, hardy experimental subjects in the world. Kept in a constant state of torment to observe their reactions, they were fed various stimuli endlessly. The most primal of creatures, some of the toughest Homunculi were known as ancient, unstoppable threats to the planet.

Homun's yellow irises returned to his eyes, and they filled with the darkness they are accustomed to. Suddenly, he stopped shaking. His extra arms from his back stretched to the front and met fist-to-fist. The skin between them connected, and Homun thrust them outward several meters, deflecting the frontal ice shards in the process, sending them flying towards the ground, putting holes through buildings and digging into the ground. Then, his new bat-like wings thrust themselves behind Homun, giving him a powerful short burst of speed that closed the remaining distance to his target almost instantaneously. His condition was not that great, however. As he flew renewed, most of his body's flesh was torn off, his body was a tattered rag of its former self. The bottom half of his face was eaten down to the bone. His right arm and left leg were missing entirely. A few fingers from his left hand were gone and large chunks of flesh were absent from the arm itself. As he reached with his remaining hand, he felt himself losing control of his body.

A sudden rush of euphoria, followed by the complete silence of the world. His left hand, on the shoulder of his opponent, snapped off as Homun's body flew by Raelyse and crashed into a stone building. The impact caused the entire building to collapse, raising a large plume of dust in its wake.

Designed for rapid gene manipulation, The Homunculi were not only good at experimenting with the fundamental building blocks of life, but they could also emulate memories, abilities, and even items of those they assimilated. Each assimilation added to its evolution. It was only a matter of time before one achieved sentience.

Like before, the storm stopped for a moment, and glistening shards of ice floated helplessly in the moist air. Pointing at the freshly downed Raelyse, they converged onto their target, as if betraying their former master. The stones of Homun's crash site shook, and he emerged from the rubble, his body fully assembled and not a single scratch on him. His hair had turned silver, and his eyes were now pupil-less, iris-less white with a blue glow. His entire body seemed to glow as well, and his expression was calm, almost somber.

In a low voice, Homun spoke to himself, "I see. So.. he was a Bladesinger. A rather unorthodox one." His mind seemed at odds with his current self. The assimilation was fierce, and Homun almost lost his sanity to it. He resolved with everything in his being to keep himself this time. "This is the first time I could actually explore the possibilities of an assimilation... there are elemental stones in my back. I didn't know I could copy these." His clothes regrew over his unharmed body.

He didn't care much about Raelyse's history or motivations. The Myrusian's ego and vanity were affecting his personality. To Homun, Raelyse seemed like someone who detached himself from his previous life entirely, instead pursuing his own selfish agenda with his power. The two weren't all that different, actually.

Deciding to see the extent of his new abilities, he concentrated and slowly lifted off the ground, gradually increasing speed and rising to the clouds above. He stopped, the water droplets avoiding him as they did Raelyse. He spread his arms, pointing his palms at the sky. The sky was bright for a moment as thunder crackled above.

"Come! Show me the perfection of lightning!"

Just as he willed, a lightning bolt came crashing down upon him, sending a surge of electricity through his body. Sparks and small currents ran around his body, his brightness like a beacon that could be seen for miles. Small whirlpools of water floated nearby, since Homun could not fully control the various affinities he possessed. Seemingly forgetting about Raelyse, he was lost in his new power, laughing at the sky itself. Even though he kept his personality through the assimilation, he couldn't be more unhinged.

[Raelyse]

Raelyse saw his barrage of needle-like icicles cut into the monster’s flesh, tearing its body. But still it advanced. The attacks had little bludgeoning force even in their great numbers and were not enough to halt enemy’s advance. A normal foe would have winced at the first strike and fallen at the last strike, but this opponent apparently did not hurt for its trajectory continued forward. Even with thousands of holes in its body, the creature still continued towards him, its claw like hand then grabbing Raelyse’s shoulder and forcing him downwards to the ground.

It was only thanks to his quick reflexes that the next few seconds did not pass by like a blur to Raelyse. He felt the creature push him towards the ground but he chose to do nothing when he saw it up close. It was literally falling apart and even the arm that grabbed onto him was about to fall off. As the duo fell, Raelyse used his magick to slow his descent, before levitating himself away from the falling creature, allowing its momentum to send it crashing into a nearby building. The prince of Myrusia then slowly lowered himself to the ground, eying the area where the creature fell, wondering whether it had survived the near tearing apart of its entire body.

What he saw next interested him.

From the prince’s perspective, what interested him was one of the most important motivations in his life. This creature was now one of those interesting things. Raelyse knew that the creature had some magical properties after seeing it twist and contort its body for its attacks. When it had moved up close towards the prince, Raelyse had noticed that its face was unique. It had human characteristics. Its face had morphed in an unnatural shape, just like its body but there were definitely human traits. Its eyes bore at least some form of emotion, a drive and motivation that the prince instantly noticed.

When he saw the creature rise again, its body fully regenerated, he knew instantly what he was dealing with. The rain freezing and flying towards him in a manner identical to what he had done before was more than enough to confirm his suspicions. This creature was a homunculus, a magical construct that Raelyse had read of in books or heard about from wizards. He had never thought he would run into one of them.

They had always intrigued him. This one would make a nice pet.

Raelyse saw the frozen ice needles fly towards him, but with a flick of his hand, they instantly melted before they were within feet of him. The prince kept his hand raised, briefly wondering what type of attack he wanted to use on the creature. But then, he faltered, just as he was about to release his magical energy.

This creature was interesting. Raelyse wanted to observe it. He didn’t want to kill it.

Not yet.

[Abomination]

Fragments of memory entered and exited his consciousness, his mind combing through the recesses of Raelyse's history involuntarily. Homun personally did not care about what the Bladesinger knew, but it was by his design that every possibility be explored. It was his function as a Homunculus. In fact, it was that word that popped up in his mind: Homunculus. It was what he called himself, but it was on a whim based on a vague, distant memory. He had no clue what the word actually meant until now. With access to the great libraries of Eluriand, it was likely that Raelyse had chanced upon the term and its meaning.

The zombies had all been released, free to rot once more in silence. Their meaty piles made the hotel look like an inverted morgue. Homun looked down at his opponent, his arms dropping to his sides and his jovial expression turned ponderous. He now willingly probed this memory. It never occurred to him that Eluriand's massive libraries would contain a clue of his origins. Of course, he understood what Raelyse was thinking all too well. The Bladesinger must be aware of what he's dealing with now. He was also looking down upon the Homunculus, which made Homun think that his race was not threatening. Homun tried to find more memories, but sadly there wasn't much. They were either deep in memory, or Raelyse simply didn't know enough about them. He now had another reason to head back to the land of the elves. His very body knew that there was more to this. He finally had a clue!

Homunculi, in their natural state, are blobs of constantly changing flesh that resemble a humanoid shape. In this state, they are highly susceptible to any stimuli, but they are also extremely fast and vicious. If by chance they were allowed to fully assimilate with another being, the result would be a highly amplified version of that being, meaning that the first assimilation is the most important. Homun's first assimilation was a weak human, so his current state is inferior to that of his Homunculi brethren. If a Homunculus were to have its first assimilation with a powerful being, it would be nigh unstoppable.

With an increased understanding of the abilities Raelyse was employing, he figured there was no way to damage him from range. Any ice or water would simply be dispelled before it got too close. It was likely that Raelyse primarily operated as a mage, but had swordsman abilities in reserve. Being the original owner of his abilities, Raelyse had superior control and power in his magic, so a caster duel is out of the question. In addition, the Bladesinger had already seen the extent of Homun's own abilities. There seemed no way of surprising him this time.

"Enjoying yourself, Myrusian?" Homun called out, levitating downward while sparks still flicked themselves off his charged body. He fished for any attachment Raelyse held for his former home. "Your ruse interests me. Going through all the trouble to make a clone of yourself for that forgettable island. Why not destroy it if you hated it so much?"

Lowering himself further, he put his hand on his throat as his vocal chords were rearranged. Emulating Raelyse's voice, he sang the song called Pegasi Strain. After ten seconds, from each shoulder blade emerged an ethereal white wing spanning six feet. Landing on the roof of a wooden house, he felt his mind relax from the strain of the levitation spell. Homun was fully aware of Raelyse's weaknesses. The spell required concentration and had a slow acceleration. The wings would allow him to react much quicker if the Bladesinger had decided to take off again.

Holding out his right arm, he pointed at Raelyse with his index finger. The lightning had been channeling through his body long enough. Widening his eyes for a moment, he felt the charge converge into his arm and exit out his finger in a magnificent display of electricity. The force from the attack shattered all the windows on the house he was on. Homun fully expected the response to this kind of attack. It was too strong to simply be dispelled. There was, however, an effective counter-attack.

[Raelyse]

And Raelyse’s eyes did not leave the creature, especially when it displayed its latest skill. Grabbing at its throat, it apparently rearranged its chords to more resemble the prince’s and began to sing. It was song magic from the hallowed halls of Istien University, one of the symbols of Raiaera before the elves succumbed to the undead. The homunculus sung it pitch perfect, at least in Raelyse’s opinion, because it was performed in the exact same manner that the prince would have performed it in. Seeing the same ethereal white wings emerge from the same back where monstrous arms minutes before seemed like a perverse insult to both Raelyse and the elves’ song magic.

Normally, he would have taken offense from a lower being plagiarizing an ability he had made distinctly his. This time however, he was too distracted from his curiosity to bother.

This homunculus now appeared to have assimilated one of Raelyse’s abilities. And it was all from a touch so subtle and brief that the prince did not even know it had existed. A quick inspection of his shoulder revealed a tiny rip in his suit jacket and shirt and a tiny abrasion across his shoulder. Just from that, a touch so miniscule it could not even be called a scratch, this creature had absorbed some of Raelyse.

“That was a long time ago,” the prince replied matter of factly. There was no reason for him to lie to this creature, it knew everything. There was no point looking down on it, he was unsure what its nature even was, whether it would even see Raelyse as a superior. “I haven’t even thought of Myrusia in an eternity.”

The fact that not only prowess and powers, but memories as well had been absorbed further interested the prince. He wondered about the extent to which this creature assimilated its targets. If memories and powers could be copied almost identically, how exact a copy could this homunculus truly become? It was rare that Raelyse adopted such a philosophical and scholarly approach to any matter in his life, but the presence of this homunculus was almost a revelation. The prince had never encountered anything like it before.

As if to further enthral the prince, the homunculus unleashed an attack that Raelyse had used so many times before. He watched as the lightning bolt left the outstretched finger. Without losing an ounce of composure, the prince lifted his right hand directly into the path of the attack. It collided into the centre of his palm, briefly sending shockwaves through Raelyse’s body. But the pain was only brief and the shocking sensation moved around his torso and into his back, channelled into the magical stones imbued into his back.

Raelyse looked up at the homunculus, without so much of a scratch. The magical stones on his back prevented any magical attack from being lethal. The homunculus’ copycat attack was no stronger than anything the prince himself could strike with and was barely even a problem.

“There’s no point attacking me,” the prince said. “I know what you are and I know what you can do. You may think that by taking my powers you know what I am going to do. But you forget, that I also know what I’m going to do. You can’t surprise me.”

[Abomination]

Homun lowered his hand, his ethereal wings glowing vibrantly among the falling water that avoided him. If there was one thing that Homun had that Raelyse didn't, it was an outside perspective. Seeing how the Bladesinger dealt with his own attacks was unique, and every detail mattered. In fact, this was the response Homun was expecting. Simply copying someone would never be enough to beat them, in the end it was his own Homunculus abilities that he had to rely on.

Wait, why was he bothering with this? The original plan here was to gain these powers of flight and take off to find Xem'zund. Why was he suddenly so interested in fighting Raelyse? The Bladesinger's influence on his personality was becoming more apparent. Pride, vanity, and a sense of superiority permeated his demeanor. He felt like he was a prince of some sort. Yet, he wasn't. No... This wasn't a true assimilation after all. His mind had been tampered with, and now he had intentions that were not uniquely his.

He was not aware of his change of plans. Lost in his insatiable desire to explore the possibilities of his new abilities, all other plans had been put on hold. Looking up at the sky, he closed his eyes and let the rain hit his body. As he became soaked, the water hardened into ice, slowly covering his body. The ice crackled and grew, forming patches on his skin and clothes. A chilly mist began to rise from his body; his mouth, nose, his skin, as if it wasn't just his outsides that were turning to ice. Lowering his head, he opened his eyes and stared at Raelyse.

"Clearly you've never fought a Homunculus before," sneered Homun, his voice reverting to its original sound.

It wasn't Raelyse's offense he was interested in; it was his defense. Seeing how he nullified that attack and how he dealt with the shards of ice only confirmed his next route. He stood on the edge of the building's roof he was on, spreading his arms and allowing his body to fall forward. Before reaching the ground, his wings took over and turned his fall into a glide towards Raelyse. With those wings, his target couldn't simply levitate away. He flew past the doors he had earlier busted down, the walls he had torn through, the windows he had broken, the objects he had shattered, and the people he had killed. The smell of dead bodies and dust was washed away in the storm. The dim light of the sun beyond the clouds was all but gone, replaced by whatever lanterns were not knocked over in Homun's killing spree.

Two steel swords came out of his palms and stopped at the hilts, which he grasped with his outstretched arms. More arms came out from each side of his body, also becoming very icy from the rain. The blue ice turned the arms into sharp weapons, the ice cracking as they were bending. Even the swords seemed like icicles with the frost growing over them. He was capitalizing on his last successful attack, the one he performed when he was just a Homunculus, this time intending to skewer the Bladesinger with both the swords and the arms. It was true that as a copy, Raelyse could anticipate Homun going for his weaknesses with his own abilities, but as something that evolved; as something that became more than a copy, the ancient creature could not only diffuse Raelyse's offense, but use his abilities to augment his natural Homunculus powers. With this, he may not only defeat powerful magicians such as Raelyse, but perhaps Xem'zund as well.